Don’t expect this to be either of the typical articles about diversity. I’m here not to fawn over its benefits nor to rant about who does or doesn’t get hired. I’m here, instead, to ask why we react to it in the baffling way we do, why it often accomplishes the exact opposite of its stated goals and what dramatic approaches we might take to make achieving its goals more realistic.
Announce a round of diversity training, or of progress toward reaching diversity hiring goals, and one thing is guaranteed. Eye rolls and sarcastic comments among workers will abound behind...
While I add a similar disclaimer to all of my public content, it's particularly important in this case to emphasize that the convictions I've expressed in this article are entirely my own. I've arrived at these opinions after 30 years of corporate work, but they in no way reflect the views of PwC and are in no particular way inspired by PwC.
Preamble
I have to admit that I am a little surprised to find myself writing a series of articles on 'organizational bullshit.' At first glance, this is not my area of specialist expertise. But the more I have reflected...
Several comments in response to my recent competency-focused post led me to also consider the importance of curiosity in the workplace. Interestingly enough, recent experiences have given me a chance to see firsthand the benefits of nurturing curiosity and how to do so as part of the DNA of the work environment.
Curiosity is a vital element in all aspects of innovation, yet is tightly confined by many companies to only certain stages of developing solutions. It’s a characteristic that all companies claim to value, but that many companies, in their actual culture, firmly suppress.
Curiosity increases employees’ value to the company and...
The cybersecurity industry is constantly evolving, facing new threats and challenges every day. To stay ahead of the curve, protect sensitive information, and protect lives (in case of cyber-kinetic risks), the industry requires a diverse range of skills, perspectives, and innovative solutions capable of tackling complex and evolving threats. The cybersecurity sector has a unique opportunity to harness the distinctive talents of neurodivergent individuals. Neurodiversity, which encompasses individuals with cognitive differences such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other neurodivergent descriptions, offers a unique and untapped talent pool for the cybersecurity sector.
The benefits of diversity, especially in tech spaces, are...
Modern theories of the firm remain focused on transaction costs, operational efficiency, employee motivation, leadership, strategy and other related factors. While any of these may support our success at various times, none of them alone will facilitate it in the long run. Even strategy, while vitally important, is set at a point in time and is vulnerable to change. The one factor that enables our company’s long-term viability is Enterprise Resilience which enables a company to adapt to a change.
Technological Upheaval
We are in an ever-shifting maelstrom of change. Climate change causes more frequent and intense natural disasters. Changing climate...
“Organizational bullshit” is a term coined to describe deceptive, vague, or otherwise misleading communication within an organization. “Organizational bullshit” is not an expletive. It is a legitimate academic term and the subject of serious and growing academic research on leadership. In his 1986 essay, “On Bullshit,” which later developed into a book by the same name, Princeton philosopher, Harry G. Frankfurt, was the first to look at the phenomenon through a more analytical lens, making it something that can be identified and, therefore, addressed.
Frankfurt proposed that bullshit is different from lying. Unlike a liar that intentionally subverts the truth,...
The face of interim management is changing. Traditionally, an interim manager was someone at the end of his career who chose interim management to extend his working years.
This is changing fast. An increasing number of managers – both men and women – have entered the market in recent years, intent on making a career of interim management. That’s no surprise. The rewards of interim management make it a great career choice if you have the skills and personality for it, and don’t mind its few disadvantages.
Interim management benefits
Interim executives enjoy the challenge of working on different assignments with tight...
Neurodiversity is the concept that recognizes and embraces the wide range of human neurological variations. It acknowledges that individuals with diverse cognitive abilities and neurological differences, such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and other conditions, bring unique strengths and perspectives to our species. Over time, neurodiversity has played a crucial role in the development and progress of the human species, contributing to our adaptability, innovation, and problem-solving abilities.
Diverse Problem-Solving and Innovation
The human species has thrived due to its ability to adapt to different environments and come up with innovative solutions to complex problems. Neurodiversity plays a crucial role in this...
Are you hiring and using interim managers wisely? Why is it that some companies attain exceptional results from interim manager hirings and some are disappointed?
It has little to do with the quality of interim manager candidates. The only way they become candidates is by demonstrating exceptional skill in implementing the kinds of solutions that clients want. Why, then, do results sometimes go awry?
Unfortunately, some companies treat hiring an interim manager like a magic potion: Drop someone – anyone – into the position and wait for amazing results. That simply doesn’t work.
To produce the exceptional results expected of interim managers,...
Businesses, facing an ever-increasing variety of complex problems, are in desperate need of good interim managers to help solve them. Such positions are highly rewarding, with the opportunity to explore new places, meet new people – and fill your plate with a steady diet of fascinating challenges.
Perhaps you’ve considered entering this growing field and becoming one of these people who jump into new companies at their moment of need, solve their problems and move on to the next sticky situation. Maybe it’s time to stop imagining this challenging lifestyle and think about making it a reality. So, what do...
Giving feedback is hard.
Giving good feedback is even harder.
Giving good feedback across cultures is next to impossible.
On my first Canadian project two decades ago, my Canadian boss "suggested that I think about" doing something in a different manner. So I did. I thought about it, and I decided not to change anything.
Not long afterwards, our Canadian client provided feedback on my first deliverable. I was elated to hear that I had "some original ideas" and that my report was "relatively fine." They concluded with a suggestion that perhaps I "should consider rewording parts of it."
Never the one to go fixing what's...
How window-dressing chips away at any tangible rewards companies could reap from neurodiversity efforts.
Diversity has made a dent in the public consciousness. With a long-overdue shift from an ethical buzzword into a brand-defining must-have, emerging nuances to diversity have at last begun to take their place on the front burner.
In fact, neurodiversity is now so widely known that it has quickly risen to become a subject of keen interest. Google Trends drops data-backed hints about how much of a crucial role neurodiverse individuals actually play in corporate and social settings — unlike how we have come to view...
There are many adjectives that could be used to describe the global outbreak of COVID-19, but perhaps the simplest might be: fast.
The disease has spread quicker than most people can mentally digest. By nature, humans process linearly. This pandemic has been a lesson in exponential thinking for the common man. Those who don’t spend their time contemplating Moore's Law or compound interest have felt overwhelmed by infection or mortality rates that double daily.
In response, governments, businesses, monetary institutions, education systems and the many other players in corporate and civil life have acted at high speed. It is easy to...
Read Part 1: Why
Part 2: How
One day, sitting in the shed he called home, the journalist, Oobah Butler, had an idea: he would turn his shed into a fake restaurant and make it the top-rated eatery in London. This audacious thought wasn't random, though. Before becoming a feature writer for VICE.com, one of Butler's part-time jobs had been as a review writer. But not just any reviews – these were fake reviews on TripAdvisor paid for by establishments who wanted to improve their business ratings. As he became more entrenched in this work and watched his reviews have real-world...
Canada’s rankings in innovation has lagged that of other peer nations for decades despite government efforts to address this issue. Considering its success in developing research programs at its universities, its mediocre rankings overall in technology development is disappointing. Those programs alone have not been enough to translate into entrepreneurial innovation.
A 2017 C.D. Howe Institute study points out that, even though Canadians have been at the forefront of breakthroughs in emerging technologies, in many cases, the chief beneficiaries of those breakthroughs have been other nations’ economies. Canada needs to take a stronger role in building an environment in which...